Iron and Paper
by njckle
Summary: In all her time as a Fairy Tail member, Levy has understood all those who entered her guild- read them like any of her books- but Gajeel is an anomaly. Levy centric.


There are many moments where Levy doesn't know what to believe or think when concerning a certain steel dragon slayer.

He is an enigma, a puzzle beyond all puzzles. Something so difficult to understand and make sense of, always changing and rearranging his pieces, just to make it all the harder for her to put him together.

And she knows, he's doing it all on purpose.

In all her time as a Fairy Tail member, Levy has understood all those who entered her guild- read them like any of her books- but Gajeel is an anomaly. His crumpled, illegible pages are labeled wrong and his story out of order and he may have well as forced it impossibly shut with a fork. But, as she dealt with script magic, one would think she'd be able to decipher it easily.

Given time, she certainly could.

His personality, motivation, goals, actions, past- all of it throws everything she has out the second-story window-

-into a lake-filled with piranhas-

-on fire.

Emotions run wild with him, his anger lashing out at any unfortunate victim, whether it be a physical kick to the face or a traumatic experience when he zeroes in with his glares that can only be described as a premonition of death. And yet, there are countless times where he's held it all in for what seems like forever, an unbeatable poker face that's as blank as a sheet of paper.

She prefers when he openly expresses what he's feeling- which is, thankfully, most of the time. And she considers herself lucky that she's gotten to see so many of his different emotions, although they rarely make an appearance. Anger, irritation, rage, scorn, animosity - all of them are out in the open and common, shoving aside other sides of him that barely see the light of day- kindness, thoughtfulness, patience, sympathy, empathy- manners.

Yet, despite his constant reluctance to destroy his supposedly tough guy image, Levy is always entertained seeing the softer side of the dragon slayer- compassion, determination, sensitivity, cheerfulness.

Pantherlily, the recent addition to the guild, has easily gained passage into the slayer's heart. Even with the ridiculousness of their meeting, their battle to near-death, it's obvious that the friendship has grown incredibly and Levy is able to understand why. From the frequent nods of approval to the occasional cheer and compliment toward the other, Gajeel and Pantherlily base their relationship on respect and pride. And she can see that it has morphed into something stronger, as Gajeel shows through his occasional moments of physical affection, such as a pat or scratch just where he knows the cat likes it.

Although, it's brushed off whenever she brings it up to the dragonslayer.

You're seeing things, Shrimp, he says, making a story where there isn't one.

His excuses are so pathetic that it's adorably stupid.

That's easy to make sense of- there isn't much of a struggle when concerning dragon slayers and their cats. With his feline companions around, Levi is given some leeway in unfolding the puzzle of Gajeel.

Now his relationship with the other human guild members are a bit iffy. She figures that there's a mutual degree of respect between most of the members and Gajeel, as well as an unspoken tolerance, even acceptance. Some were still unsure and cautious toward the ex-Phantom Lord mage, but since the seven years that have past, as well as with the number of occasions he's proven himself for the guild, all that is in the past. She thinks that even he doesn't realize how attached he's become and how much effort he puts into everything for those around him. No one really bothers to notice his extra step, besides herself and Master Makarov, but she suppose it doesn't matter.

He would deny it anyway.

But still, everything was scrambling the story, rearranging the words so she was essentially reading gibberish, slowing her progress.

What she needed was a key, something to make all the gibberish make sense, translate it into something she could understand. But, Gajeel had the only key and he wouldn't give it up without a fight- one that would decimate the entire guild and throw everything into chaos and ruin. A fight that would be impossible to win and difficult to even comprehend, unknowing what the rules were and who was playing the actual game. To get the key, she'd need to understand him, but she couldn't do that without making sense of his story- leading her back to the key.

Never before did she need anything more than her mind. Never before did someone force her to struggle this hard to figure out one measly sentence.

And it frustrates her.

It made her pull at her hair, slamming her head onto a hard surface- throw herself onto the floor in a graceless heap- yell out in wordless annoyance- all because of one metal eating thug. Nothing- no one had ever made her this tense.

She doesn't think anyone else would.

Okay, she'll admit that she likes him more than she should, which is undoubtedly stopping her from throwing all the craziness to the curve. It's unfathomable why, as he's always calling her names pertaining to her small size, ruffling her hair and throwing away the hours of work she did to tame it, blunt and rude when discussing important subjects, uncaring about anyone's feelings-

The list could go on forever.

But she would continue to struggle over the puzzle, dodging whatever projectile came rocketing her way, and keep to the end.

Although his story is almost impossible and she feels so inadequate whenever dealing with it, she couldn't see herself giving up. Nope, he's influenced her too much for that to be an option. Oh no, that would be too easy and wouldn't give her the feeling of satisfaction when the time came that she gets his story together. From what she's experienced and learned so far, she decided she wants to be part of the later chapters, wants to be a major character, wants to be part of the action, and most definitely wants there to be a sequel. As a bookworm, there's no way she'll stop when she's only begun.

With how much work she's put into translating and unraveling Gajeel and his story, she's at the point where she can't put the book down. No matter what part she reading, it's always new and informing and she can't help but be drawn in further.

Because she knows this ending is going to be unlike any other, something she wants to be part of no matter what.


End file.
